LIVE STATS
RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team will host Bowling Green State this weekend in a three-game series at Turkey Hughes Field. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is set for 2:00 p.m. while Sunday’s game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
The Colonels (7-7) recently split a midweek series with Purdue at Turkey Hughes Field, while the Falcons (3-7-1), who are back-to-back MAC champions, lost their first six games to Louisville and Kentucky, but are 3-1-1 in their last five. BGSU has not played in eight days, as its last three scheduled games have all been washed out by rain.
Junior right-hander
Stephen Hefler (1-0, 6.60 ERA) will start on the hill for EKU on Friday, while junior left-hander
Paul Duncan (1-1, 5.40 ERA) will go on Saturday and freshman right-hander
Anthony Bazzani (1-2, 8.44 ERA) on Sunday.
Junior
Jayson Langfels and senior
Anthony Ottrando have led the way offensively for EKU. Langfels enters this week with a team-best .435 batting average to go along with 17 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, five home runs and an .887 slugging percentage. Ottrando, meanwhile, has been the ideal cleanup hitter as he leads the Colonels with six home runs and 19 RBI, all while hitting at a more-than-respectable .365 clip.
Sophomore
Richie Rodriguez is adjusting to life well as the Colonels’ new leadoff man. He comes into Tuesday’s game with a .391 batting average, 10 runs scored and a team-high seven stolen bases, all while continuing to play exceptional defense at shortstop.
Junior
Ryan Faidley has also been swinging a hot bat lately. The outfielder is second on the team with a .395 batting average, and he hit his third home run of the season against Purdue on Tuesday.
BGSU will trot junior righty Brennan Smith (2-0, 14.21 ERA) out to the mound on Friday, and will turn to freshman right-hander Michael Frank (0-1, 3.00 ERA) on Saturday and senior right-hander Kevin Leady (1-1, 3.71 ERA) on Sunday.
Jon Berti and T.J. Blanton have paced the Falcons so far in 2010. Berti is batting .488 with 12 runs scored while Blanton is batting .432 with 12 runs scored. The duo has also stolen 10 bases between them. Dennis Vaughn comes into this weekend batting just .237, but he leads BGSU with 12 RBI.
EKU is 5-17 against BGSU all-time. The two teams met last season in Winter Haven, Fla. and the Falcons defeated the Colonels, 8-4. Current Colonel
Greg Terry received the loss in that game while Langfels batted 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The forecast for Friday and Saturday is sunny with the temperature in the mid-60s